My Demons
by MasterZezzo
Summary: The thoughtless actions of handful of boys sets forth a chain of events that nobody could have possibly forseen. Team Seven sets out to conquer their own individuals, but with each moment that passes the world is brought closer to it's final stage. Will they be able to overcome their own problems, or will they allows it to consume them and in turn the rest of the world? FemNaru


**Naruto is the property of Masashi Kishimoto (and I think SHUESHA Inc. as well?) and does not in any way belong to me. I am merely borrowing the universe and the characters as a basis for my own story idea.**

**I'm pausing on my work on the newest Harry Potter story. My monitor broke, and I can't get to my files to continue on the chapter I was in the middle of working on. I will be continuing it once I find a way to get to that... I really don't want to start the chapter over, you know?**

**Also, my Percy Jackson fanfiction is going to be resurrected soon. I'm currently in the process of rewriting the first few chapters (taking out the mass use of nearly direct lines from the books... that's just lame, so I'm working with that.) and writing the next newest chapter. Expect that to be updated sometime soon.**

**I'm taking a break from school, so I've got time to multitask the f**k out of some stories.**

* * *

My Demons

Chapter One

_The slums of Konoha were originally not much different from the rest of the village. The buildings had taken the brunt of the destruction caused by the Kyuubi's rampage six years prior, and while the had been rebuilt, there were still many ruined buildings that littered the area. This was, perhaps, the main reason why the other buildings in the area were fairly frequently the targets of vandalism by bored, trouble-making teens. The repeated vandalism and the surrounding ruins made workers reluctant to bother with the upkeep of the newer buildings, causing them too to fall into disrepair._

_A trio of teens - boys - stumbled drunkenly through the streets of the run down section of the village, their minds filled with anger and disappointment, their inhibitions clouded by the alcohol in their systems..._

_The three boys had all failed the Gradation Exams at the academy earlier that day, and while their classmates went out and celebrated with their families, these boys -too ashamed to return home and face the disappointed faces of their shinobi parents - had tried to drown their sorrows with alcohol they had liberated from a liquor store. The boys, upset and drunk, had made their way into the slums to let out their frustration on the run-down buildings._

_However..._

_"Do'ya see that Takeshi?" one boy slurred, pointing ahead at a small figure illuminated by the moonlight._

_The other two boys squinted at the figure, their vision hazy. They were just able to make out the long, golden-blonde hair atop the head of a little girl._

_"'at hair... innit that..." the tallest one began before stumbling over his own feet._

_"Tōjō, ya dum'ass! Can' even walk on yer own two feet!"_

_"Shaddap Kensuke!" the boy said as he straightened himself, "As I wus sayin', ain't that the girl?"_

_"Girl? Of course it is, dum'ass!"_

_"No! No! I mean... I mean... _that_ girl!"_

_"Ya mean... the demon?"_

_"Shuddup Takeshi! 'rents said we ain't s'posed to talk about that!"_

_The little girl walking several meters ahead of them had stopped walking some time through their conversation, standing completely still as if listening carefully to what the boys were saying. Then, at the word 'demon' the girl had begun walking again, at a much faster pace than before._

_At that moment, Takeshi began to to jog after the little girl, his intoxication making his progress difficult and very unsteady._

_"Wha the hell ya doin'?"_

_"It's her! The demon!" he called back to his two friends, "Don'cha get it?! If we kill it they'd make us genin fer'sure!"_

_The other two boys looked at each other, their expressions slowly morphing into cruel smiles as their minds caught up with Takeshi's words. Under normal circumstances, the boys would have seen through the flawed log that was presented to them, but with so much alcohol in their system, and their emotions running high, the boys readily agreed and ran after Takeshi._

_Takeshi smirked as he heard the footsteps of his friends come closer to him. He was gaining on the little girl, her hair flying wildly behind her as she ran. She was surprisingly fast for a six year old, but Takeshi had been trained to be a ninja. Even if he hadn't graduated, he and his friends were still leaps and bounds above this little girl, even when taking their drunken state into account._

_The girl made a sudden turn and ran into one of the derelict buildings, quickly slamming the door behind her._

_Takeshi eyed the door for a moment, giving his friends time to catch up with him. The boy grabbed the knob, and was not surprised when it turned easily, allowing the trio to enter. Very few of the locks in this section of the village still worked._

_It did not take long for the terrified, pain-filled screams of the six year old girl to pierce the night._

_Screams that were soon drowned out by the sound of roaring wind._

* * *

_Hokage's Office  
_

_The Sandaime Hokage sighed deeply. The night had started out well enough, with many families celebrating the graduation of their children from the Academy. The Hokage had chuckled at the children's excitement, privately wondering how many of them would pass the true test. Overall, it had been a rather good day, and it delighted the old man to see the children of his village in such high spirits. Though as the day slowly progressed, Sarutobi Hiruzen felt tendrils of dread grasp his heart and slowly begin to squeeze._

_It wasn't until well into the night that he realized what it meant._

_The sickening feeling the Kyuubi's chakra had filled the village, terrifying civilians and shinobi alike. The Hokage had been the first to jump into action, quickly making his way to the apartment of one Uzumaki Natsuko with an ANBU squad in tow. By the time he arrived, the overwhelming feeling of the demon's hatred had long since vanished, but the sight of the building made the dread within the old man's heart truly explode._

_The entire eastern side of the building had been blown apart, giving the aging Kage a clear view of four bodies. The Hokage pushed aside his personal feelings for the moment, and with one sudden burst of speed, found himself in the middle of the destruction._

_Deciding that the state of the four individuals littered about the floor was more important than assessing the destruction. The sight that he was met with froze him in his tracks. Lying at his feet was a corpse - without flesh. All that remained was a blood stained skeleton. _

_Hurriedly, the Hokage checked the next body, and then the next, fear gripping his heart with each sight. Fearing the worst, the old man checked out the final, and smallest body._

_To his immense relief, the girl was - mostly - in tact. Her body was bloody, though the various wounds along her arms and chest had already closed up. Her face was also covered in blood, and there was a still-closing gash along the girl's right eye. What really made the old man feel the reality of the situation, however, were the academy regulation kunai knives driven into the girl's palms, effectively nailing her hands to the floor. In that moment, the events of the night became clear to the man,_

_As he knelt down to remove the blades and take the child to the hospital, Sarutobi Hiruzen felt no pity for the boys' whose bodies laid nearby._

_The little girl lay still in the hospital bed, looking smaller than he had ever seen her._

_She had been cleaned of blood, and the last of her wounds had finally healed. Sarutobi noted with some confusion, however, that the scars remained behind, from the jagged scar that marred her cute face, to the cuts that littered her arms and the puncture scars on her palms that went through to the backs of her hands._

_He didn't understand it. Since the little girl had been able to walk, she had gotten herself injured on an almost daily bases. Her curiosity knew no bounds, and often led her to the kind of exploring that was dangerous for a child her age, but despite this, the little girl had never scarred. No matter the severity of the injury._

_Could it be the release of the fox's chakra that prevented it from completely healing her?_

_He mentally shook himself from the thoughts, it wasn't the most pressing matter at the moment._

_"How is she?" he asked the medic that had just reentered the room._

_"Well..." the medic hesitated, "Physically she's fine... mostly..."_

_"Mostly?" Sarutobi asked sharply._

_The medic winced. "It's her eye, Hokage-sama. It's still there, and she should be able to see out of it just fine, but..."_

_"What is it?"_

_"It's..." Just as the medic began to speak, the small body on the bed began to stir._

_Sarutobi was by the child's side in an instant. "How are you feeling, Natsuko-chan?"_

_The little girl let out a soft groan and opened her eyes. A familiar cerulean eye stared back at him from the left, but from the right... Hiruzen's breath caught in his throat._

_The eye was crimson, with a vertical split pupil. Sarutobi recognized it in an instant._

_"Jiji?" Natsuko said, her voice sounding tired._

_"I'm here, Natsuko-chan. Are you okay?"_

_The girl stared at him for a moment, a look of confusion etched into her small, round face. Then, suddenly, her eyes widened. Tears threatened to spill free as her expression morphed into one of fear._

_"Jiji!" The child cried, "I'm sorry! I didn't... I didn't mean to kill them!"_

_Sarutobi felt a pang in his heart._

_"It was an accident! I... I couldn't... the wind wouldn't listen!" She lunged forward, burying her face into the Hokage's robes, sobbing._

_The old man slowly wrapped his arms around the little girl. "It's okay, Natsuko... everything will be okay..."_

* * *

Seven Year Time-skip: Hokage Office

The Sandaime Hokage sighed heavily at his desk, just as he had seven years prior on the day that marked Natsuko's change.

The once boisterous girl had been quieter, and more focused. This was certainly not a bad thing, but the Hokage could not help but miss the outgoing child he was so fond of. Perhaps, though, it was for the best. The girl had always been bright, that could not be disputed - but she had used her intelligence to pull pranks around the village. Whether they were desperate cries for attention, the girl had just genuinely found them amusing, or both, he had no idea.

Those pranks were now a thing of the past. Now her intelligence had been put forth to more rewarding avenues. The girl had entered the academy months after the horrific event in top physical condition for a girl her age. Her first few years in the academy were more review for the girl, which was quite lucky, because the instructors had little love for the girl. There was little the Hokage could do about that - they were still low on man power and there were only a select few shinobi under his command that were truly cut out to educate the next generation.

Still, the Hokage was worried that this would stunt her growth, regardless of how ahead she had been at the time. The situation alter worked itself out when Umino Iruka took over for Natsuko's class. Sarutobi had been worried at first, that the young man would allow his hatred for the Demon Fox to cloud his judgement of the girl. His faith in Iruka turned out to be justified, as the man quickly grew close to Natsuko because of her high intelligence and equally high willingness to learn.

The girl continued to prosper, easily rising to the top of her class next to Uchiha Sasuke, who's family had been victim to slaughter by one of their very own members.

_Another failure of mine, _the Hokage thought morosely.

It seemed that the only thing Natsuko truly had trouble with was the Bunshin no Jutsu. Not that Sarutobi could really fault the girl for, her chakra reserves were absolutely _massive. _The last time Sarutobi had seen the girl, she had been hard at work on advanced chakra control exercises.

Yes, he was quite sure that she would graduate without a hitch.

He couldn't figure out why he had such a bad feeling about today, though.

* * *

Ninja Academy

Natsuko cursed for her surname.

It was not the first time. In the Academy, people tended to favor doing things in alphabetical order, which pretty much made close-to-last for everything.

She drummer her fingers on the desk, waiting impatiently for Uchiha Sasuke to come back with a shiny new hitai-ate. She had no doubts that the boy would pass. He was, after all, the only one in the class that could truly match up to her, in spars as well as grade-wise.

_Well, _she supposed, _That Haruno girl is pretty smart. When she's not... distracted, anyway._

Natsuko snorted in disgust. Uchiha was attractive, she would not deny that. He was strong too, and she supposed there _was _an air of mystery around him, but that didn't mean she was going to faun over him like some love-struck prepubescent girl.

Okay, so she did technically identify with most of that, just no the love-struck part... but still.

Besides, Uchiha's personality left much to be desired. Sure, she herself was quiet and withdrawn most of the time, but at least she had friends. Of course, with the girls falling all over him, she could understand his attitude as well.

Hm, what came first, the chicken or the egg?

Pushing that thought aside, the girl let out another impatient huff.

"Would you calm down? You're starting to get on my nerves," a drawling voice spoke from behind her,

"You can't talk, Shikamaru! You've already taken the exam."

"Still, I wasn't huffing and puffing about waiting, either."

"Well, not everyone is as lazy as you!"

Shikamaru sighed, "Why are women so impatient?"

At this, Natsuko turned to direct a one-eyed glared at the Nara. "Excuse me?"

Shikamaru sighed in defeat and put his head back down, ignoring Chouji's snickering beside him.

"He has a point though, Natsu-chan," the Akimichi said, "You'll be up next, there's no point in getting so worked up."

This time the girl's glare was directed at him, causing the boy to flinch, "You can't talk either! You were the _third_ person to go up!"

"Uzumaki Natsuko."

The blonde's lips quirked up in a smile at finally being called, and stood up from her seat. On her way up she passed the Uchiha who sported his hitai-ate proudly on his forehead.

The two didn't acknowledge each other in the slightest.

The girl walked to the examination room, fists clenched in determination.

Once she graduated, she would truly be a ninja. She would have access to stronger jutsu, and most importantly, to a jounin sensei. Jounin were the best of the best. Elite, veteran shinobi, and to learn from one directly would surely make her stronger.

_**You are weak.**_

The girl clenched her fists tighter as the words reverberated in her head. Words that had been scorched into her memory for the past seven years.

_**You are nothing. You can not survive survive on your own power. You need me, or else you will die.**_

She felt the foreign chakra burning in her right eye. The eye covered with bandages. The air around her began to stir.

_**You will be forced, time and time again, to use my powers to survive. Each time I will consume a bit more of your soul. Your body will be mine. Your mind will be mine. You are merely a shell for my existence, and soon I will overcome you. I will force you to watch as I destroy everything you love.**_

She examination room door was in sight. The girl pushed her emotions back down. The helplessness. The rage. The winds whipping around her body calmed back down to a gentle breeze.

_**Because you are weak.**_

_Not for long, bastard._

* * *

Forest Surrounding Konoha

Tetsu Nakamura panted in exhaustion as sweat rolled down his face.

He had done what Mizuki-sensei had said... he had managed to steal the Scroll of Sealing - nearly being caught by the Hokage himself - and had made his way to the spot he had been told to meet sensei.

It had taken him hours, but he had managed to learn a jutsu from the scroll.

Tetsu was smart, he knew it, though nobody else did. His scores in the Academy did not accurately reflect his mental capabilities, he knew. When he wasn't interested in something, he couldn't focus, and it made it difficult to get anything done, but when it came to something like this... he was a genius.

He had failed the Graduation Exam. His jutsu were spot on, and his accuracy in thrown weapons was decent, but when it came to the written exam he had completely tanked. An accurate reflection of his entire academy education. He just couldn't concentrate on those tests.. they were so boring...

He had been devastated to learn that not only did he fail, but he was the _only _one to fail. He had not only failed himself, but his parents as well. They had died during the Kyūbi attack years previously, but his grandmother told him stories about them all the time. They had been excellent shinobi. Strong, smart... they had rushed off in defense of the village the moment they the fox had appeared.

And they had been killed.

He had dreamed of becoming a great ninja, just like them... but his dreams had been crushed. Until Mizuki-sensei had approached him, with a special method to graduate. Tetsu had accepted the offer without hesitation - and without forethought.

Practical application was his thing. Jutsu were his thing. He _was _a genius, even if nobody knew it. So he had picked the most interesting and easiest to learn jutsu from the scroll, and he learned it.

Now, all he had to do was...

The boy yelped, just barely jumping out of the way in time for a massive shuriken to impale itself in the ground where he once stood.

The boy looked around wildly, finally noticing the figure standing on a tree branch nearby.

"M-Mizuki-sensei...?"

Mizuki smirked cruelly, "Sorry kid, but I'm gonna be needing that scroll now." He pulled out a second giant shuriken.

"Wh-what?! You... you just used me? There never was any special graduation test, was there?!"

Mizuki threw his head back and barked out a life. "I can't believe you believed that! What a stupid kid, it's no wonder you didn't graduate if you couldn't see through such an obvious lie!"

"You... you... BASTARD!" The boy cried out in rage, bringing both hands in front of him to form a single hand seal.

Sensing danger, Mizuki quickly through the massive shuriken at the younger boy.

"Birudoappu: Kai (Buildup: Release)!"

* * *

**Thanks for reading.**

**This is more of an introductory chapter than anything else, so there's not much here.**

**Also, I have very, very, very, VERY little experience with Japanese. I would rather my jutsu be IN Japanese, so I'll have a description of what they do and what I intend them to mean beside the jutsu, and their effects at the end in an A/N (Provided that they're not supposed to be a mystery.) If anyone would like to help me with the Jutsu portion of this, please message me. I would really appreciate it.**

**I don't really like the little sub-titles that split up the sections of the chapter but I can't really seem to keep my own line-breaks I don't feel like there's enough space between the tiny little line-breaks that are offered... so, yeah.**

**The last section of this chapter might be a little... low quality. (Maybe the rest of it is too, I don't know.) I didn't really go over it as well as the rest of the chapter.**

**Much of this story is inspired by the song My Demons by Starset.**

**Sasuke looks exactly the same as canon at this point. I'll describe Tetsu at a later date. If you want a look at Naruko just look up Kasumi Uzumaki. If I'm not mistaken, that's supposed to the daughter of Naruto and Sakura (maybe not, didn't look into it too much.)**

**I think it's an awesome look for femNaru. Just make the eyes a little bluer, cover up most of the right side of her face with bandages, and keep her arms covered with bandages, and bame, Natsuko!**

**I hope I'm not stepping on anybody's toes for making that Natsuko's image, but.. well... meh.**


End file.
